Responses of Grape Quality Characteristics of Some Table Grape Varieties (V. vinifera L.) Grown in Northwestern Turkey to Heat Summation Index and Latitude-temperature Index

Abstract

There are several climate indexes in viticulture for determining grape growing potential of a region and among these indexes, heat summation index is commonly employed to characterize grape growing regions on which the base temperature and the calculation period are based. In recent times, latitude-temperature index has been considered to be more accurate for deciding the suitability of a region in terms of grape growing. In current study, it was utilized from both heat summation index and latitude-temperature index for assessing of suitability of research region in terms of viticulture and also compared relationships among the climate parameters and quality characteristics of some table grape varieties grown in Tekirdag ecological conditions during the two consecutive years (years 2015, 2016). As a result, the best grape quality characteristics among the grape varieties were respectively obtained from varieties of ‘Muscat Hamburg’, ‘Horoz Karasi’ and ‘Cardinal’ in the years 2015 and 2016 and climatic indexes divulged that prevailing research region was quite convenient for viticulture. Furthermore, when the two years of the study were compared in terms of both climate indexes, it was especially found that 2016 year revealed better quality characteristics in grape varieties grown in Tekirdag province, Northwestern Turkey compared to 2015 year.